Upper Dublin: The Making of a 21st Century Suburb ← All Chapters

The Impact of Development

Do new developments actually have negative impact of property values?

Although those locating in an area do seek to avoid trafficked areas, do new developments have a significant adverse impact on traffic?

Does development in adjoining communities have more impact than locally generated traffic. Impact of changes in use on Horsham and Upper Moreland sides of Welsh Rd.? Future impact of looming, oft-postponement redevelopment of the Willow Grove Naval Air Station by Horsham that was originally contemplated to occur in mid-2010s?

In three affected areas, near Promenade near Dawesfield, Dresher Estates on Limekiln Pike at Broad Streety, and the siting of the new fire station and a synagogue on Ft. Washington Ave. that generated substantial local opposition based, at least in part, asserted threat of reduced home values. Montgomery County’s Bureau of Assessment Appeals’ records show that the great majority of nearby homeowners stayed put, some saw little apparent appreciation when selling their homes while neighbors saw substantial appreciation when they sold their homes. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether the NIMBY (not in my backyard) argument of impairment of market value can be established objectively. (A fourth controversial one, involving development of the St. Mary’s site, is too recent at the date of publication to make an assessment.)

The Upper Dublin schools, public, parochial and private, and-controversies (the Three Tuns elementary school teardown) (Denise-Marie Santiago, Plan for Three Tuns gets OK, Phila. Inquirer, July 14, 1988, at H16 (developer Samuel Colavito and his company Willow Development Company get approval to build townhouses for seniors at the site of the former Three Tuns School; delay in seeking approval due to lawsuit involving John Ritchie, Ambler developer, who purchased site from Upper Dublin Dublin School District for $3.5 million in 1985; suit with Colavita settled in 1987; Commissioner Zollo, whose wife has business dealings with Colavita, did not vote); Donna Shaw, Vote to sell school would end long battle, Phila Inquirer, July 21, 1991);

PTOs and other parent organizations; increasing diversity of community and school population; Clair Brown in 1970s referenced a survey of student body evidenced affiliations with 26 different religions, quite a surprise to him;

Successes of graduates, but how many of them stay or come back to UD—who moves, who stays—can this be analyzed? (if only a small percent stay in Upper Dublin after graduating high school , what is the economic benefit to the municipality of a school system (in some states, school districts are organized by county-Maryland—and most countries, funding is national, thereby realizing benefit of education by taxpayers as a whole)105

Twining Valley-1951 lease; end of lease; the density of golf courses in UD; the decision to end the leasing of Twining Valley (Brandi Shaffer, Upper Dublin Golf & Fitness Club Disputed, Club Resort Business (April 21, 2016) (describing contentions raised by management and Township in discussions involving termination of management of facility)

The UD park system and trails, and sidewalk connectiveness; Open Space Committee of Upper Dublin; two referenda in support of funding for acquisition of open space; acquisition and re-acquisition of Twining Valley; Robbins Park. “The township has the second largest park system by acres in Montgomery County, behind Lower Salford Township; it has the second greatest number of open space sites in Montgomery County behind Lower Merion Township; and it has the fourth highest percentage of acres dedicated to park space as compared to the township’s total size across the county, according to the document.” Jon Campisi, Oct. 8, 2021, Patch (interview of Paul Leonard re: possible development after 2021 tornado); Cross County Trail extensions

The 2001 tornado (Hurricane Ida), its destruction and response (reprise of the 19th century tornado in Jarrettown); the LuLu fire

Community events and organizations (including the Upper Dublin Educational Foundation and the various juvenile sports organizations); the country clubs; accolades; and honors,

Notes

  1. 105.Throughout its history there are very few Upper Dubliners who became famous (or notable) for their activities while adult residents of Upper Dublin. In the late 18th century, John Morris (also claimed by Whitpain), for his role in both the Revolutionary War and the birth of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; in the latter part of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century, Wilmer Atkinson as publisher of the nationally distributed Farm Journal, and, more recently, Olympian Kim Gallagher (although in most of her adult life she resided in nearby Springfield); Edward Piszek (both for his Mrs. Smith’s pies and his outsized role in advancing preservation of Polish heritage), and John Mauchly. The nearly 500,000 member Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery present an annual ACM Eckert Mauchly Award, recognizing Mauchly’s role, with Eckert, in developing ENIAC, the world’s first large-scale computer machinery, in 1947.See ACM website. Of these only Gallagher attended Upper Dublin schools